Donor Spotlight - Carole Cato

Carole Cato, a longtime donor and supporter of the College of Nursing, grew up on
a family tobacco farm in rural southern Virginia where health and educational opportunities
for women were scarce and often out of reach because of cost.

That experience sparked her passion for women’s advocacy and supporting the College
of Nursing was a natural fit. She joined the college’s Partnership Board and was impressed
by the faculty’s dedication to improving the health of people across the state and
the world.

Cato funded a fellowship to support Ph.D. students interested in teaching. This fellowship
is helping to increase the number of nursing faculty, with the further goal of increasing
the college’s capacity to educate more nurses who are critically needed to meet South
Carolina’s growing health care needs. Additionally, she donated her entire estate
to the college to ensure that it can expand its women’s health research and policy
initiatives.

Cato says she is excited by the momentum at the college: cuting-edge programs in telehealth
mental health services, a state-of-the-art simulation lab, perfect first-time passage
rates on the nursing board exams, and a successful advocacy campaign that broadened
the scope of practice for nurse practitioners in South Carolina, to name a few.

"I see miraculous things happening at the University of South Carolina’s College of
Nursing all the time, " Carole Cato.

For more information on how you can support the College of Nursing, contact Monica Cromer, Senior Director of Development.